BWOF 02-2009-102

It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it, I'm very happy with the result.

 

 

I used size 40, tapered down to 42 at the hips (default for me) and the muslin proved that the bust was a bit snug the neckline too low. The next pictures shows my alterations to the front: a full bust adjustment as described in Fit For Real People by Pati Palmer  when only a little extra room is needed.

The neckline I made 4 cm higher, and adjusted the button placement and roll line. No other changes.

Two helpfull tools: the button attachment foot I ordered from Gone sewing company at ebay when I ordered my zipper foot. It has a hole where you can put something (in my case an old needle) to make a longer thread shank for the button. Much cheaper than the original foot.

The other is the collar clamp from  Pamela Erny (Off the cuff style/Sew Exciting). It was a very helpful tool to turn the beltloops and epaulets.It's long and you can clamp the fabric in the pliers, so that you have both hands free to turn.

What the (BWOF) instructions don't tell

I'm doing a lot of time consuming projects lately. First the Marfy-like pants, then the weekender bag (thanks for all your kind comments on that, either here or on PR) and now this jacket/blouse. It worth taking the time though, as the result is very nice. I did a quick fit and it really looks good, if I may say so myself.

And I found it very nice to read the comments on the coat with 3/4 sleeves. As it struck me as silly, it's a) a trend apparently and b) some of you live in climats where this is a good style to wear. For me a coat always will have long sleeves, though I certainly like those 3/4 sleeves on other garments. This jacket has them!

 

At the beginning of the week I said I wanted to write about what the instructions don't tell. Though not very detailed, the instructions are seldom wrong, I agree on that with Allison C.  But most patterns are not that difficult to make, when you have some sewing experience you know the order of construction, and for the difficult parts there's the internet or sewing books as reference. For the notched collar I used the instructions from the book High fashion sewing secrets by Claire b. Shaeffer, even though I understood the way BWOF wanted me to do it, I preferred her method (I'll make pictures/tutorial on my next project with a notched collar).

 

Summerset wrote three wonderful posts (one, two, three) on how to use BWOF (or Patrones/Knip mode etc) patterns  and showed how to trace and how to read the drawings that are included.

What is not included are generally the little details in construction.

	Cutt off the corners and grade the seams. This is the top of the pocket before turning, but it could also be a sleeve cuff.
	Baste essential fold lines like here in the center fold. Turn, baste and press the sides of pockets before  stitching them to the garment
	Clip curved seams and do this with bias clips, at different points at both sides of the seam (the last was a tip I read in either a book by Roberta Carr, or Claire B. Shaeffer)
	Finish the inside of the belt loops with a zigzag stitch (especially for this pattern, but in general these things are not mentioned)
	When using a thick thread for topstitching, use a longer stitch length. I use the Gütermann thread that comes on a grey bobbin (upholstery thread) with normal sewing thread in the bobbin. And this pocket was taken off! With publishing the picture earlier this week I saw that it was off grain too!

My jacket needs lining and the sleeve cuffs. I'll be doing that this weekend and hope to publish finished pictures soon.

Mistake in instruction BWOF jacket

A warning for those of you who want/are making the BWOF jacket no. 102 from the February issue: on pattern piece 12 (top part of pocket) a buttonhole is drawn and the instructions tell you to make one. It's wrong! The buttonhole must be on the belt loop (which is described too). On the pocket is only the button. Luckily I saw that in time.

3/4 length sleeves on a coat?

Today I received the BWOF March issue. It's not as inspiring to me as the February issue, but there are three (!) trenchcoat patterns in it. Great, isn't it.

But... I saw one of the patterns (the red) has 3/4 length sleeves and to me that looks silly. What do you think about that? Would you wear a coat with 3/4 sleeves?

(Pictures from BWOF site)

Tools

I was planning to write a post "what is not included in the bwof instructions" based on pictures I made for the pocket. But I'll write that one later this week. Just too tired.

In the picture you can see what color I'm using. It's a deep red linen, and I decided to line it. I also interfaced the complete front pattern pieces and part of the back.

For the topstitching I use a darker red. The topstitching is a feature of this jacket and the darker color makes it more distinct. Unfortunately it also shows each unevenness, as in the left of the picture. I might take it out and redo it.

In January I posted about the problem of the zipper foot of my Bernina machine.

Kay Y (who doesn't blog, but writes great reviews of the beautiful clothes she makes on PR) and someone in a private mail advised me to buy a low shank adapter. With that tool I could use generic feet.

I followed the advise and bought the adapter and zipper foot on Ebay from this supplier. It was a very good experience in communication, and shipping costs for Europe were very reasonable. I had thought to use this for the piping in the weekender bag, but as you know, I omitted that. (And Belinda, yes, my hands were hurting from the pins after making the bag, and DD asked why we had so many bent pins!)

Now I can use my Bernina too when I want to have a more free needle.

BWOF 02-2009-102, muslin

A quick update, I'm in a sewing mood. I managed the muslin tonight and was not disappointed. The muslin is a size 40, tapered down to 42 at the hips, but otherwise no alterations. The fit is good, though (as expected) a bit snug at the bust and the neckline a bit too low to be comfortable. I did an easy fba to add just a little extra room as described in the Palmer/Pletch book Fit for real people, made the neckline a bit higher and cut the fabric tonight.

Weekender bag finished

Wow, I did it. The weekender bag is finished! I can't tell you how happy I am that this came to a good end after all. Technically I've sewn better things before, but the end result is not that bad. The "wrinkles" on the corners of the top I decided to keep. Design element...

If you would like to see all the pictures I made during construction of this bag, start here. Most pictures have a description of what I did at that stage of construction. I'll post a complete review later tonight at Pattern Review, the review is almost finished, but still some links to be added. It's quite a long review, so I'll  not post it here.

For the moment I'm completely done with bag making, and think that my next bag will be one from the stores.

Now it's almost dinner time here. Tonight I'm on my own, as DD is on holiday in Switzerland with a cousin for a week (Patrones skirt pictures on her will have to wait, she was too busy the last couple of days), and DH and DS are going to a soccer match.

Guess what I'm doing? Making a quick muslin for the BWOF February jacket/blouse and hopefully cutting that from the red linen I have for that. My mind is set to some spring clothes. the sun was shining today and the birds made it sound like spring is finally coming. Spring garment sewing is next on my agenda.